Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, said this Wednesday that the Angolan justice system is increasingly dynamic, active and fulfilling the role expected of it.
When intervening in the inauguration ceremony of new judges of the Supreme Court (TS), the Head of State demanded verticality from the magistrates, in favor of the good name of Angolan justice.
Before those in office, the Head of Executive Power considered the events that culminated in the resignation of President of the Court of Auditors by magistrate Exalgina Gambôa to be regrettable.
The former president of the TC, Exalgina Gambôa, was accused of crimes of embezzlement, extortion and corruption.
João Lourenço stated, on the occasion, that in the face of public denunciations against the management of the then presiding judge of the TC, the Public Prosecution Service did not ignore them, and is carrying out its work.
The Angolan Head of State underlined that in the wake of the case “it came to discover, later, irrefutable facts much more serious than those of the public denunciation imputed to the same judge counselor”.
According to President João Lourenço, the allegations point to an attempt to extort, by the magistrate, the Ministers of Energy and Water and Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas.
According to the Statesman, the magistrate summoned the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas to her office to ask him for one percent of the share capital of the Lobito refinery, Benguela province.
João Lourenço considered the attempts of the then president of the TC “out of the ordinary” and “impossible in today’s Angola”, which has as its main governance banner the fight against corruption and impunity.
The Head of State recalled that in view of the situation, and with a view to guaranteeing the regular functioning of the State bodies, he invited the Counselor Judge in question to resign from her post, and was subsequently constituted as a defendant by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Still in relation to what he considered “troublesome moments” experienced by the Angolan justice, at the time of the opening of the Judicial Year, President João Lourenço also referred to some suspicions that hover over the Supreme Court.
In this regard, João Lourenço made it known that the Public Ministry is also working on establishing the truth of the facts.
“Let us calmly await the progress of the ongoing work being carried out by the Attorney General’s Office,” he said.
For a court advisor, continued the President of the Republic, exemplary behavior at work and in society is expected.
The judges Anabela Couto de Castro Valente, António Fernando Neto da Costa, Artur Domingos Gunza, Inácio Paixão, Maria Guiomar Vieira Dias Gamboa Craveiro, Paciência Graça Diaquiesse Dondeiro Simão, Pedro Nazaré Pascoal and Raúl Carlos de Freitas took office this Wednesday.
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